Mudra Group makes two key appointments

The Mudra Group has made two key leadership appointments. While in a strategic move, Joydeep Dasgupta has been appointed the new head for Mudra Chennai, Rapp India has appointed Venkat Mallik as the president of its Indian operations.

Earlier, Dasgupta was vice-president, Mudra Mumbai and handled brands such as Union Bank, Bank of Baroda and Future Group. In his new role, his key focus will be inorganic growth, talent management and the creative product.

Mallik comes from PRS Permacel, an erstwhile Johnson & Johnson company, where he was business head, brand risk management. His vision for the agency is to build a strong data-centric full service agency and expand the businesses as well.

Jude Fernandes, executive director, Mudra Group, says, "During his long, fruitful stint with Mudra Mumbai, Joydeep played a key role in managing some critical accounts. His success on these brands, knowledge of the business and varied experience make him a fitting candidate to take up the prestigious Mudra Chennai assignment for us."

Dasgupta has more than 14 years of experience in the industry. He started his career at Advertising Avenues in 1994-95 as a management trainee. In 1996, he joined Mudra Mumbai, which he quit in 1999 to join JWT.

Later, he came back to Mudra again in 2001 and has been associated with the agency ever since. He has worked on several brands such as LIC, Onida, Philips, Reliance Infocomm, Godrej, Sunsilk, HSBC, State Bank of India, Kinetic Scooters and Air India.

Mallik brings with him more than 23 years of experience, which includes profit centre management, building and remodelling start-ups and handling successful global brands. He has extensive experience in leading agencies such as JWT and Leo Burnett. He was also the managing director of Level Up, a leading international online game publishing company.

On his appointment, Mallik says, "The economic climate that we are emerging from presents a great opportunity for Rapp, with its strong measurability and data-driven culture. I believe it is a good time to join a leading global entity such as Rapp with its world-class tools and processes."

Sandeep Vij, head, DDB India Group, says, "Globally, Rapp is one of the most respected data-centric and media agnostic agencies in the world. Rapp India is a key pillar within the DDB India group. With his rich cross-functional and integrated experience, Venkat is ideal to take Rapp India to the next level."

A few months ago, Rapp Collins, the direct marketing arm of the Mudra Group, was re-named Rapp India. The role for the agency arm, too, has been redefined. Rapp India aims to be a data and behavioural science centric agency that will be led on the insights drawn from the data.